The Prime Minister said in response to all the protests this afternoon that aggression and intimidation by the farmers are unacceptable. Demonstrating is important, but the law must not be broken, according to Mark Rutte. And that is also the message that the Netherlands Agricultural and Horticultural Organization (LTO) brought out.
“We think it is especially important that farmers remain respectful and that no people are endangered”, says Harold Zoet, regional chairman of LTO. According to the organization, nothing was coordinated with them for the spontaneous actions of the past few days. “We are still working on a number of joint actions, but are not calling for hay bales to be set on fire.”
App groups
The Schardam farmer Erik van der Deuren knows where these campaigns come from. “We have app groups per district in which actions are suggested. There are always a few who take the lead and sometimes there is more support and we come together.” The idea of the hay bales was sent in the group app yesterday afternoon, the farmer knows.
And whether action can also be taken within the limits of the law? “We have been working on this for three years, but it has yielded little.” Although the farmer partly agrees with Rutte and LTO, “we don’t want to be a burden to anyone, but we do want to make our voice heard.”
And for now, the Schardam farmer can still count on sympathy, although according to him that is really North Holland. “In a province like Gelderland, the farmers are hit much harder, so the protests are more intense there.” In his own province, the impact of the plans is less great and so are the actions, “there are still people in cars who give a thumbs up when I’m on the highway with the tractor.”
And there is generally a great deal of sympathy for farmers, says professor of social change and conflict at the VU, Jacquelien van Stekelenburg. “Even though we sometimes disagree with them, we understand where the problems come from.”
Radical
Still, there are small groups within the movement that might compromise sympathy. “In Stroe, the peasant movement made one sound, a positive sound with a strong undertone, but there are groups that feel that Stroe did not show the desired effect, and therefore want more radical actions.” According to Van Stekelenburg, we could therefore say that there is a group of farmers who are making their voices heard in a more radical way.
Although, according to farmer Erik, we don’t have to worry about radicalizing farmers. “We will at most cause a little nuisance, but we don’t want to harm anyone. We are not hooligans.”
Follow-up
We’re just not done with the farmers yet, Erik knows. “Today the House of Representatives will meet again, I do not expect the mood to change there. And then we will probably let you hear from us again.”
According to Harold Zoet of LTO, we are more likely to use some of the action markers in the food supply. Zoet does not want to elaborate on a concrete action, but does let it be known, “that the supermarkets are full of products from Dutch farmers. We want to create awareness for this, among consumers and politicians.”